Lot 66

Bohumil Kafka (1878 - 1942) HEAD OF JOSEF MÁNES

The idea of creating a monument to Josef Mánes, who symbolized Czech culture during the German occupation, had been forming long before Bohumil Kafka took up the theme. In 1940, Mánes' monument was enlarged to its final height of 342 cm. Kafka was inspired by Max Švabinský's well-known graphic portrait of Mánes. The head is raised and the gaze fixed in the distance. Work on the statue, which was filmed for a short documentary, was completed in 1939. The model was then cast in bronze to create the separate head. The work comes from the author's estate in the famous Kafka villa in Ořechovka, Prague 6. Published: Kafka, Bohumil and Wittlich, Petr. Bohumil Kafka: (1878-1942): The Story of a Sculptor. Prague: Karolinum, 2014, p. 211.